Wilmer- Thanks! At first my wife thought you were joking...it IS a funny name.

Thanks for the chuckle, Manny!

From that same site Wilmer directed me to, here is some other rep (copied and pasted):

There are solo parts written for Heckelphone in Richard Strauss's Salome, and Elektra, as well as his Alpensymphonie and Josefslegende. Hindemith's Op. 47 Trio for Viola, Heckelphone and Piano is one of the best works composed for the instrument (or for viola, for that matter). Other works with Heckelphone parts include: Dollar Symphony in C Minor by Kurt Atterberg, Symphony No. 1 by A. Bax; "Fennimore and Gerda", "Paris", and the Dance Rhapsody by F. Delius; "The Planets" by G. Holst; "Sonnengeist" by R. Klose; 3rd Symphony in F by Franz Moser; "Moloch" and "Mona Lisa" by Max Schillings; the London Symphony by W. Vaughan; and the Symphony No. 3 by F. Weingartner. For the full list, see Peter Hurd's Heckelphone/bass oboe Repertoire

On that page are also some sound samples as well, including some Paul Winter, a sample of it playing the Promenade from Pictures (now THAT's just wrong!), etc. Great info!

Richard Strauss's Salome, and Elektra, as well as his Alpensymphonie and Josefslegende. Hindemith's Op. 47 Trio for Viola, Heckelphone and Piano is one of the best works composed for the instrument (or for viola, for that matter). Other works with Heckelphone parts include: Dollar Symphony in C Minor by Kurt Atterberg, Symphony No. 1 by A. Bax; "Fennimore and Gerda", "Paris", and the Dance Rhapsody by F. Delius; "The Planets" by G. Holst;

Click to expand...

Oh.. so, does that mean we're wrong about them being two different instruments? Shoot, terribly sorry for misinformation, in that case!

Manny- According to the info on the site, bass oboe and Hecklephone are in fact 2 different instruments. No misinformation there.

The web site says:
"The Heckelphone is broader and more robust than the bass oboe, which tends to sound thinner and more reedy by comparison. Some commentators have opined that even where composers have indicated the bass oboe, the Heckelphone was actually intended. Some of the Repertoire selections here are indicated as "bass oboe": there is some disagreement as to the composer's actual intentions..."

I should have included the last phrase in my copy. Sorry for that.

There is also a piccolo Hecklephone, in F, and an octave higher than English horn.